Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    Altered Beast

    Game » consists of 25 releases. Released Nov 27, 1988

    A side-scrolling brawler that puts the player in control of a resurrected centurion who possesses the ability to shape shift into many beasts, such as a wolf, dragon, tiger and bear. Altered Beast was the original pack-in game for the Genesis in North America.

    thejollyrajah's Altered Beast (Genesis) review

    Avatar image for thejollyrajah

    A decent title 20 years ago.... but the same can't be said today.

    "WISE FWOM YOUR GWAVE!"

    PLOT:

    Zeus's daughter, Athena, has been captured by the evil demon god Neff. To save the goddess, Zeus resurrects a 'Centurion' (a high-ranking warrior) to do the job for him.

    ...........If Zeus is so powerful that he can resurrect warriors from the dead, then why can't he fight Neff himself? It doesn't make sense. Anyways.....

    GAMEPLAY:

    Players take control of the resurrected centurion through five levels in this side-scrolling beat 'em up.

    To progress through the game, you'll need to confront and kill demonic monsters and undead creatures by throwing punches or kicking them. You can also collect floating orbs to increase your character's strength. After acquiring a certain amount, your character will transform into a creature, including a werewolf, a dragon, a bear, a tiger, and the golden werewolf. In beast form, you'll have special attacks and abilities you wouldn't normally have in human form, and you'll be able to fight one of the boring, bland, generic, and predictable bosses which lie at the end of every stage waiting to bore you with their limited movesets.

    Whenever I play this game, I can't help but notice how awkward the controls and the enemy movements are. It just feels... clunky.

    The game is short. Even if you've never played this before, you should be able to beat it in one afternoon. If you have a fair amount of skill, it's very easy to complete in 15 minutes.

    There is also support for cooperative play, which is a plus, but it really doesn't add a whole new level to the experience. It's just sort of thrown in for fun.

    GRAPHICS:

    Nothing great. It's actually one of the uglier Genesis titles in my opinion.

    SOUND:

    The music is... alright, but easily forgettable.

    The voice-overs are just plain AWFUL. The quality is so horrible, it actually makes some of the voice-overs downright laughable.

    BOTTOM LINE:

    If you've never played this game in it's glory days, stay away from it. It's a waste of time, to be honest. If you're a retro gamer, and you've played this game before..... only get it if it has any nostalgic value to you.

    Sure, back when it first released, it was great, but it hasn't aged very well. I played this game frequently when I was younger, but now that I look back on it, it's just one of those games that was good back in the day, and that's it. It's a shame too...... it was one of my favorite games in my childhood.

    It gets a 2/5 from me.



    Other reviews for Altered Beast (Genesis)

      Altered Beast is Underrated 0

      It may be a great challenge, but it's worth the playtime. Anyone who can beat Altered best is a real gamer. Although Altered Beast may just be your average beat' em up on the outside, Altered Beast's short gameplay takes a long time to get through because of the true challenge. That's the cool thing about the game: it's notorious for being one of the most difficult games ever made, and it did get the Genesis some success. Altered Beast is another Sega classic. It's got multiple levels that seems...

      1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

      Another one we're forced to hail as a classic. 0

      Zeus's daughter has been kidnapped by a demon from hades named Neff. To see to it that she's rescued, Zeus resurrects two fallen warriors to venture into Neff's realm. They leave on a mission fighting off the undead and various monsters. -summaryAltered Beast is one of those games that really made me question on what exactly determined a classic. I mean, even after all these years, I'm still unsure on how it was able to gain such recognition. My only guess can be that sense of nostalgia for long...

      1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.